Sudan sentences pregnant Christian to death for apostasy

posted at 8:41 am on May 15, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

A pregnant woman faces the death penalty in Sudan for apostasy, after police discovered that she had been raised as a Christian despite the family’s identification as Muslim. Meriam Yehya Ibrahim also faces a sentence of flogging for marrying outside her religion, even though her husband is also Christian. The heart of both cases is the law forbidding the conversion of any Muslim to any other faith:

A Sudanese court has sentenced a Christian woman to death for renouncing Islam, her lawyer said Thursday.

Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, 27, was convicted by a Khartoum court this week of apostasy, or the renunciation of faith.

The court considers her to be Muslim.

She also was convicted of adultery.

Ibrahim’s lawyer Haram Othman told CNN that her legal team will appeal the verdict within 15 days.

According to the rights group Amnesty International, she was convicted of adultery because her marriage to a Christian man was considered void under Sharia law. She was sentenced to 100 lashes for the second crime.

In what is said to be the first case of its kind in Sudan, Ibrahim was told by a court in the capital Khartoum on Sunday that she had three days to recant her faith or face death.

Ahmed Bilal Osman, Sudan’s Information minister, told the AFP news agency: “It’s not only Sudan. In Saudi Arabia, in all the Muslim countries, it is not allowed at all for a Muslim to change his religion.”

Western nations immediately protested the court’s ruling, as did Amnesty International, which is seeking to publicize the case:

“The fact that a woman could be sentenced to death for her religious choice, and to flogging for being married to a man of an allegedly different religion is abhorrent,” said Manar Idriss, Amnesty International’s Sudan researcher. “‘Adultery’ and ‘apostasy’ are acts which should not be considered crimes at all…It is flagrant breach of international human rights law.”

The Khartoum embassies of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Holland expressed their opposition to the case in a joint statement.

The US has limited resources with which to act. We have diplomatic relations with Sudan and deliver a significant amount of humanitarian aid, but we have no ambassador to Sudan; the post has been vacant for a year or more. We have sanctions still in place from the Darfur conflict, although we are also working to mediate the remaining disputes in the settlement. We could squeeze Khartoum on aid, but that would almost certainly backfire on the US in terms of public relations.

Nevertheless, we need to keep pressure in some form on Sudan to reverse this decision. We should also pray for Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, and for true justice to be done.

Comments

I remember Neil Boortz telling a story about a guest from the Soviet Union that he and his wife had. They took her to the grocery store and she just stood there and sobbed. I can imagine people thinking that it is an entirely different planet.

Cindy Munford on May 15, 2014 at 11:47 AM

Story along these lines… In the 70s a Soviet Mig 25 pilot, Viktor Belenko, took his plane and defected. I read a book about it in high school “Mig Pilot” by John Barron. It blew my mind reading the book and seeing America through Belenko’s eyes. He could not fathom the immense wealth of the average American compared to the average Russian. For some time he was suspicious that everything he was seeing was staged….grocery stores, houses, near universal car ownership, etc. He simply could not fathom that what he was seeing was real.

As a believer, what would your expectations be of your God if you found yourself in the same situation?

Again, if he answers Tebow’s prayers, why not hers?

mazer9 on May 15, 2014 at 11:35 AM

Man has been given free will to do good as well as evil. While Christians advocate treating all as you would wish them to do to you, some do evil instead. This is a bad reflection on man; not a bad reflection on God.

You reasoning is worse than a child’s trying to tell a physicist how quantum mechanics works.

Skwor on May 15, 2014 at 11:50 AM

it makes no sense for a god that hates evil and values free will to empower an evil super villain to perpetuate it.

mazer9 on May 15, 2014 at 12:10 PM

Quantum mechanics doesn’t make any sense to a child either. Your response was hilarious. Don’t blame quantum mechanics if your brain is too small or your experience too limited for you to understand it.

As a believer, what would your expectations be of your God if you found yourself in the same situation?

Again, if he answers Tebow’s prayers, why not hers?

mazer9 on May 15, 2014 at 11:35 AM

13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, [m]lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will [n]immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?”

16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. 17 [o]If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; [p]and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Daniel gives us a clear example of God intervening to save three of His followers, but at the same time, the text clearly tells us that God may not save them. Stephen wasn’t saved in Acts from bring martyred. Sometimes we are delivered from physical evil, and sometimes we are not. What happens is wholly dependent upon the sovereignty of God and according to His plan.

Quantum mechanics doesn’t make any sense to a child either. Your response was hilarious. Don’t blame quantum mechanics if your brain is too small or your experience too limited for you to understand it.

blink on May 15, 2014 at 12:22 PM

Are you really trying to compare the ideal of Satan to quantum mechanics?

I’m going to have to look into that, it sounds like mandatory reading. Although I’d be happy if students got de Tocqueville.

Cindy Munford on May 15, 2014 at 12:13 PM

Not sure if modern public school students are literate enough to handle de Tocqueville. But they can easily read and understand Mig Pilot. It should definitely be mandatory reading. Here’s an Amazon link to the book.

You should be embarrassed by this comment regardless of your beliefs and her beliefs. 99% of Americans wouldn’t write something like this even if she was being killed for her belief in the tooth fairy.

You should be embarrassed by this comment regardless of your beliefs and her beliefs. 99% of Americans wouldn’t write something like this even if she was being killed for her belief in the tooth fairy.

blink on May 15, 2014 at 12:29 PM

I’m not “embarrassed”. I feel for that women just as much as anyone else do. My question had absolutely nothing to do with her and everything to do with the absence of your God.

God doesn’t save anyone’s earthly life. He can’t change that which He has already seen. He does not have free will in the same sense that we do. That would require Him to have ignorance. Don’t let Christian confusion on the subject blind you.

BTW, I’m a deist who is generally sympathetic to Christian philosophy.

I remember Neil Boortz telling a story about a guest from the Soviet Union that he and his wife had. They took her to the grocery store and she just stood there and sobbed. I can imagine people thinking that it is an entirely different planet.

Cindy Munford on May 15, 2014 at 11:47 AM

Story along these lines… In the 70s a Soviet Mig 25 pilot, Viktor Belenko, took his plane and defected. I read a book about it in high school “Mig Pilot” by John Barron. It blew my mind reading the book and seeing America through Belenko’s eyes. He could not fathom the immense wealth of the average American compared to the average Russian. For some time he was suspicious that everything he was seeing was staged….grocery stores, houses, near universal car ownership, etc. He simply could not fathom that what he was seeing was real.

Texas Zombie on May 15, 2014 at 11:58 AM

If you took an average Norkie to Seoul today you would see the same thing.

God doesn’t save anyone’s earthly life. He can’t change that which He has already seen. He does not have free will in the same sense that we do. That would require Him to have ignorance. Don’t let Christian confusion on the subject blind you.

BTW, I’m a deist who is generally sympathetic to Christian philosophy.

Simply put, God’s sovereign plan is carried out through both His actions and by human agency. For example, when I pray for something and God hears and responds to my prayer, that was part of His plan. My prayer is both something that was sovereignly planned by God and my voluntary action.

Simply put, God’s sovereign plan is carried out through both His actions and by human agency. For example, when I pray for something and God hears and responds to my prayer, that was part of His plan. My prayer is both something that was sovereignly planned by God and my voluntary action.

Othniel on May 15, 2014 at 12:52 PM

What if God in His sovereignty chose that by prayer, Christians could change the course of events?

Simply put, God’s sovereign plan is carried out through both His actions and by human agency. For example, when I pray for something and God hears and responds to my prayer, that was part of His plan. My prayer is both something that was sovereignly planned by God and my voluntary action.

Othniel on May 15, 2014 at 12:52 PM

So it wouldn’t have been part of “God’s sovereign plan” if you didn’t ask?

I used to be. I spent decades in the wilderness, unable to reconcile my awareness of God with the internal contradictions in Christianity (and in other religions).

Finally, in a moment of clarity, I realized I shouldn’t let Christian confusion (and the inconsistences in other religions) bar me from understanding. I was spending my life wrestling with the alligators when I should have been draining the swamp.

Christianity is a cultural ‘entity.’ It has to make philosophical compromises to gain social acceptance, which is necessary for its survival. There is nothing ‘wrong’ with that, but it does mean it cannot focus exclusively on truth.

What if God in His sovereignty chose that by prayer, Christians could change the course of events?

It wouldn’t make God any less sovereign.

Bigbullets on May 15, 2014 at 12:54 PM

I guess I really don’t see the difference between this and what I said.

So it wouldn’t have been part of “God’s sovereign plan” if you didn’t ask?

mazer9 on May 15, 2014 at 12:55 PM

Sure, it would’ve been part of His plan. I believe in compatibilism (and for any who might be wondering, I am a Calvinist, which is the philosophical understanding that man does not have a true free will (understanding this definition of free will as the ability to act apart from human nature and God’s sovereignty). Man makes choices that simultaneously are his own (which he bears responsibility for) and were ordained by God prior to creation.

A family from my church has been doing mission work in the South Sudan for a little over a year. They’ve planted a number of churches, and have been very encouraged by the number of people they’ve encountered, who want to learn about Christ, and accept Him into their lives.
HarryBackside on May 15, 2014 at 10:03 AM

Interesting. It’s raining in the developing world and we’re having a drought here in the West.

Oops, messed up my parentheses. This: ” I believe in compatibilism (and for any who might be wondering, I am a Calvinist, which is the philosophical understanding that man does not have a true free will (understanding this definition of free will as the ability to act apart from human nature and God’s sovereignty)”

Should read thus:

“I believe in compatibilism (and for any who might be wondering, I am a Calvinist), which is the philosophical understanding that man does not have a true free will (understanding this definition of free will as the ability to act apart from human nature and God’s sovereignty)”

any partial explanations that don’t have social acceptance won’t survive for any time.

fadetogray on May 15, 2014 at 1:23 PM

I think I understand what you’re saying here. Can you give me a high-level explanation of truth? You wrote that you believe in god, but that you struggled with inconsistencies of certain religions. That seems to make sense to me.

Then, it seems as if you started seeking truth after (or during) a swamp draining, and that constraints due to cultural acceptance prevent someone from both seeking truth and following christianity.

So, I’m wondering, on a high level, what this means. It’s very intriguing.

I think there is a point few see. Historically, there were many “holy” wars in Europe a few centuries ago. nasty, ugly wars. And humanity fought the vast majority of its existence. Only since WWII has there been a comparatively almost 60 years of peace, ww. Why? America patrolled the seas and was a force to be reckoned with. Now? well….

The inter-Christian wars pretty much stopped centuries ago – yep, some Irish kept at it but even they finally said, “No more.”

Why? The ability to think freely became paramount. WHen one is constrained by a culture /tribe/religion/ ruler/government that develops a set of rules so rigid that no one can deviate from then, inventiveness is destroyed. Add to that the destruction of the human soul and lack of tolerance, creativity and free movement become things of the past. People in charge become totalitarian and voices and ideas become quiet.

Over the last 100-150 years, enormous strides have been made in science: strides that affect manufacturing, mining, flight, food, medicine, agriculture, education, etc. – these inventions develop in free societies.

Islam has had good centuries but recently? And looking back to discover why there was success vs. just claiming success are two different approaches.

My heart (and, yes, prayers) go out to people who have the misfortune to live somewhere, where freedom to believe, speak, write, think are monitored and restricted

People migrate to freer societies – most everyone wants to get to the USA. People go TO S. Korea; not N Korea; people in East Germany gave their lives to get to West Germany; from communist countries to free countries; this to/from list is long throughout history – from restrictive societies to freer societies. It’s called the core human spirit.

Then, it seems as if you started seeking truth after (or during) a swamp draining, and that constraints due to cultural acceptance prevent someone from both seeking truth and following christianity.

Not at all. It was preventing me. Which is why I brought the subject up to mazer9 just in case he was similarly blocked. But that doesn’t mean anyone else would have trouble fully embracing Christianity as an identity group while retaining skepticism regarding parts of its dogma.

So, I’m wondering, on a high level, what this means. It’s very intriguing.

blink on May 15, 2014 at 1:33 PM

What would you regard as a ‘high level?’ Just so you know, I don’t smoke pot.

Which is why I brought the subject up to mazer9 just in case he was similarly blocked.

fadetogray on May 15, 2014 at 1:48 PM

That makes sense.

What would you regard as a ‘high level?’

I’m not trying to get you to convey the full truth to me. I’m just trying to understand how you define truth. Is it, broadly, the age old questions of ‘where did we come from’ and ‘what’s the point of everything’ and ‘what does it all mean’? Or is it a bit more specific such as ‘what does god want’ or ‘how should we live our lives’ or ‘what is right and wrong’?

My only point in this thread is that you’re an idiot. So, you’re right. The fact that calvinists disagree with noncalvinists doesn’t help prove that you’re an idiot.

After all I doubt a Calvinist and Non-Calvinist would disagree on a fact like 2+2 = 4.

You must be the worst debater on Hot Air today. People disagree on characterizing the mechanism associated with the siphon. That doesn’t mean that a siphon doesn’t work. People disagree on characterizing the mechanisms associated with lift. That doesn’t mean that aircraft don’t fly. People disagree on the cause of JFK’s assassination. That doesn’t mean that he’s not dead.

Stop trying to throw rocks at the lions. Let smart people do it instead.

Vermin. Not a single morsel of food aid, or a single cent of money, should go to help an Islamic country. Unfortunately, wishful thinking in the modern age with our “intellectual and progressive” rulers.

I’m not trying to get you to convey the full truth to me. I’m just trying to understand how you define truth. Is it, broadly, the age old questions of ‘where did we come from’ and ‘what’s the point of everything’ and ‘what does it all mean’? Or is it a bit more specific such as ‘what does god want’ or ‘how should we live our lives’ or ‘what is right and wrong’?

blink on May 15, 2014 at 3:16 PM

I was speaking of seeking the truth regarding the existence and nature of God. Truth with regard to that question and questions involving the nature of being (“what am I?”) are not things we are likely to figure out through conversation and reading books. They cannot be calculated, yet they still have true answers, though those answers may not be able to be put into words.

BTW, have I told you I like your moniker? It’s the name of my favorite Doctor Who episode, with one of my favorite monsters.

You must be the worst debater on Hot Air today. People disagree on characterizing the mechanism associated with the siphon. That doesn’t mean that a siphon doesn’t work. People disagree on characterizing the mechanisms associated with lift. That doesn’t mean that aircraft don’t fly. People disagree on the cause of JFK’s assassination. That doesn’t mean that he’s not dead.

Stop trying to throw rocks at the lions. Let smart people do it instead.